Today’s announcement is a victory for the cause of human rights and equality. In acting to promote and preserve the safety and freedom of LGBT communities worldwide, President Obama reaffirmed a basic promise: no matter whom you love and where you live, the United States will stand strong for your fundamental human rights.

This action is a statement of our values on the world stage, and it places the full weight of the United States behind progress for LGBT individuals and families. The President’s directive strengthens our voice on behalf of LGBT rights across the globe, and takes the bold steps of tying our foreign assistance decisions to a country’s record on LGBT issues and providing equal access to assistance and aid to LGBT refugees and asylum seekers.

Today, our nation extended its leadership in the drive to end discrimination and violence against the LGBT community, on our shores and beyond our borders. The reach of our values does not end at the water’s edge, and we must remain firmly dedicated to LGBT rights and the human rights of all people now and in the future.